Star Fox: Natural Medicine
by Assassin-clt
Summary: Crummy title, but hopefully the story's better. This fic was written to entertain me and because NOBODY is perfect. You can find out more if you actually read it!
1. Chapter 1

_Hey. I finally got the motivation to do a fanfic! Yay! Anyways, this is my first fic and therefore probably not the best thing that you've read on this site. Enjoy my first chapter of my first fic!_

Robert Byrne - "The purpose of life is a life of purpose."

Natural Medicine

Chapter one

Fox was sick of it all. He was tired of fighting. He wanted to be done with killing. He didn't want to be used by the government anymore. He hated having all of his ships becoming rusty. Fox was sick of being depressed.

Not many would think someone like Fox would be depressed. Many would give almost everything that they had to be as famous as the vulpine. Hardly anyone looked at his past and saw how painful it must have been for him. How painful it still must be.

The only good thing that Fox could think of was that he was going to get paid. But then, he started thinking about how the government was using him to do their dirty work, and then how nobody would ever know how much he did to complete this mission.

That was the problem of looking at the bright side of life. It seemed like with every good thing that happened, two bad things came with it.

Fox was snapped out of his thoughts by the warning lights on his Arwing. Already irritated with the flashing light, he quickly turned off the alarm for low fuel. Fox wasn't worried about that. All he had to do was check the Krazoa palace to see if that mysterious vixen had gotten away from the planet safely. Then if she wasn't there, he would just head back to the Great Fox.

Fox was surprised at how far his battle with Andross had taken him. The Great Fox must have tried to help the vulpine defeat Andross because it sure wasn't in orbit around Sauria any more. He had been flying for about ten minutes and was only now entering the planet's atmosphere. He flipped two different switches to adjust the arwing to the gravity and started heading towards the general direction of Krazoa palace.

Fox started thinking again. He knew that this vixen was truly beautiful. Then again, it was spring, aka "mating season". The stupid phrase that some scientist made up when hormones suddenly fluctuate really made Fox mad for some reason. He felt that if a scientist had that much free time, then he could have figured out that Andross was still alive.

Fox shook his head vigorously for a couple seconds. Yet another thing that he was tired of. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stay focused on one thing for very long, unless it was something that was very interesting to him. That whole thing had started out thinking about Krystal and then about mating season and then about some random scientist who was probably dead.

Fox started thinking about the vixen again. It had been a very long time since he had even considered having a girlfriend. He just didn't see the point in those kinds of relationships. Usually, all Fox wanted was a friend, but with his fame, it seemed as if all every girl wanted was a chance to touch him. Usually below the waistline. After a while, he just tried not to pay attention to his female fans unless he was saving their lives.

Fox sighed inwardly as he came to the conclusion that the only girls who wouldn't know him would be in some other solar system. All of the females that he had met since two years after the initial defeat of Andross were crazy over him. Sometimes, he didn't want to go down to the surface of planets in the Lylat system for fear of being swarmed.

Fox had been staring at his joystick, lost in thought, but looked out the canopy to check if he was near the palace.

He was, but it seemed as if the place had been swarmed by another Sharpclaw army! There had to be at least fifty of the brown-scaled reptilians on the roof alone.

Thinking fast and expecting the worst, Fox started to hover over the palace to strafe the roof, but something held him back. He looked closer and it seemed as if they were jumping for joy and not doing any fighting at all. A sharplcaw that was a bit larger than the rest was holding a huge belt in victory for something.

Fox knew that belt. It was the same one that General Scales wore. That little grunt was taking all the credit for killing the General!

Anger washed over the vulpine and with it was the decision on whether or not he should vaporize the reptilian with his powerful laser cannons or not. Suddenly a more pressing matter came to his mind.

What happened to Krystal?

She was here at the temple when Fox had left to slay Andross. Now, however, the vixen was nowhere to be seen.

Fox growled in frustration, the only sound he had made since he defeated Andross. He didn't have enough fuel to look for the other vulpine, but if he did save her, he might get another bonus from the Cornerian general.

With that thought in mind, Fox set off towards the Great Fox to fuel up. He tried to get more comfortable for the semi-long trip back to the carrier. The little grunt could wait a little longer to be vaporized.

Once he got comfortable and on course to his destination, the weary vulpine started thinking back to his second fight with Andross.

The mad simian was even crazier than before. Instead of just wanting to rule the Lylat system, he had wanted to destroy it. He had gotten a lot more powerful, too. The ape would have eaten the red fox if it wasn't for Falco.

Fox narrowed his eyes at that name.

Falco. The blue feathered avian who had abandoned him and left without a trace. Just like his father and mother and most of his past friends had abandoned him.

That was the real reason to why Fox felt angry at the bird. Falco had known how much pain betrayal brought to him. Falco had known that he was betraying the vulpine. Falco hurt Fox knowing that he was doing it.

From the angry glare at his consol, Fox let his eyebrows go back to their resting place on his forehead and became more sad than angry. He should've tried harder to keep his best friend from leaving. The vulpine could've done something more to keep Falco on the team.

Fox was wrenched from that depressing train of thought by the arwing's comm. system.

"Fox here," was his prompt reply.

Peppy's aging face appeared in the hologram projector. Before he could ask something, a worried look crossed his face "Are you ok Fox? You seem a little depressed."

Fox's temper flashed but he was able to keep it under a reasonable amount of control. "Thanks for the news Peppy," the vulpine said sarcastically. "I've only been like this for six years! I would have thought you had noticed that by now."

"Sorry Fox! Geese! I was only trying to be a friend and care."

Fox sighed, immediately feeling regretful for what he said, "Yeah, I know. It's been a long week and I'm just a little wore out."

At that comment, Peppy chuckled. "I would be surprised if you weren't tired, Fox. You just walked over the entire planet in one week!"

The vulpine suddenly got a very serious look as the Great Fox came into view through all the asteroids. "Hey Peppy.

"What is it?"

"Is Falco there?"

"Nor has he been for the last four years. Why do you ask?"

Fox sighed and looked even more depressed than before and replied, "No reason, just curious is all."

Peppy didn't believe that at all but didn't push it. Instead he changed the subject, "Anyways, Fox. Why did you not answer the comm. line when we called you after the fight with Andross?"

"I had to go check on the Krazoa palace to see if everything was alright," Fox quickly lied.

"Hmm. If you say so"

"Just open up the hangar doors, okay."

The vulpine sighed as he cut the line. If Peppy or Slippy found out that he went searching for Krystal, then bad things would happen to the vulpine. They would probably assume that he liked the vixen. Then they would try to force him to date her to get Fox over his depression.

That of course would fail because girls were the initial reason for this depression. Fox tried to get away from that train of thought. He tried to focus on the present rather than the past. It hurt too much to think about what had happened to him.

And then Falco wasn't at the Great Fox. He must have left again to go back to whatever life he had now.

He glided his arwing into the launching bay and landed it flawlessly. A grin played on his face. At least he had his arwing and his team. Well, _most _of it.

Fox popped the canopy open and jumped out. He nearly collapsed as he landed, though, as a knee gave out from exhaustion.

He groaned as he stood back up. Everything was sore. His legs and feet hurt from all the jogging he'd been doing, his arms hurt from whacking sharpclaws with Krystal's staff, his torso hurt from bruises from being on the receiving end of head-butts, and now, the vulpine had a headache.

He walked as best he could toward the bridge. At least now the vulpine didn't have to worry about being ambushed.

He stepped into the elevator near the entrance to the hangar and tapped a button to go to the bridge. He immediately started moving upwards. After a bit, the elevator jerked and moved horizontally the rest of the way to his destination.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal a large, rather tidy room with Rob64, Peppy, and Slippy all inside. The vulpine was immediately greeted by cheering by the enthusiastic frog. "Hey Fox!"

"Yeah. Its good to see you too Slippy," replied the less enthusiastic vulpine as he walked over to them.

"We did it Fox," said Peppy.

Sauria is saved! All thanks to you," replied the amphibian, Giving Fox a low five.

"You should be happy," the hare added. "Not many people get the chance to save a star system and this is the second time that you did. Andross is defeated once again. Now you're an even bigger hero!"

At that last remark, Fox visibly flinched. He didn't need more fans. He already thought that there were too many of them.

Quickly recovering, he tried to hide his worry and patted his teammates on the shoulder, forcing a grin. "You all did a great job. If it wasn't for you guys, then I would've been dead before I even reached Andross in the venom war. And this last mission was really confusing, but you guys helped me through. I would still be down there if it wasn't for Peppy telling me where to go. And it would've taken me many times longer to figure out all the puzzles if it wasn't for you, Slippy. Thanks guys."

"Wow. Your welcome Fox. That was quite a speech for you, wasn't it," joked Peppy, quite pleased with the praise.

Slippy, on the other hand, started blushing and said, "It's nice to know that you still like me, even though you have to save me multiple times on a mission."

Before Fox had a chance to respond, though, Rob suddenly said, "Warning! Urgent incoming message!"

"Put it on the projector," replied Fox, crossing his arms.

"Affirmative." Within the second, a 3d face of an aging hound appeared in the middle of the room.

"General Pepper here. Good work Starfox team. The planet is now as stable as it was before. I received a message from the king and queen earthwalker thanking you for saving their world. They speak for all of the dinosaurs of Sauria."

Fox wasn't exactly sure if the redeyes would appreciate him freeing the walled city and killing their leader. He continued to listen to the general, however.

"Oh and Tricky says hi," Pepper put in as an afterthought. "I was, however, very surprised to hear that Andross was still alive."

Trust me, not as much as we were. We were there when Fox killed him for the first time," Slippy replied. "I just wish we knew how he got resurrected so it wouldn't happen again."

"It seems that Andross discovered the ancient power of the Krazoa before he died the first time and by trapping Krystal, who had the ability to channel this power, he was able to use this energy to revive himself," answered Fox, as he walked forward to emphasize what he was saying.

"And how would you know that?" asked a very confused Slippy. "And if Andross was dead, how did he trap that vixen?"

Fox thought for a moment and then slowly replied, "I just sorta… know, I guess. I don't really get it. Andross could have sent his spirit to Sauria after he died. Then, it could have been using the magical energy to strengthen itself until he, uhh, _it _trapped her. After being the host for five different spirits and then fighting Andross again, this isn't that unlikely of an idea for me."

" Well, at least this time we'll have seen the last of him. I'm transferring your fee as we speak. Good luck Starfox team. Pepper out."

"Woohoohoo! Yeah! We're getting paid!" shouted the amphibian.

"We can finally repair the ship!" added the aging hare.

"And I can really use some oil. These joints aren't what they used to be," replied Rob. As if to emphasize his point, his left arm started falling down until Rob caught it with his other hand and put it back into the socket.

"And I can't wait to get back with the Starfox team," a familiar voice said from the other side of the elevator door. It opened to reveal a familiar blue feathered falcon who walked in and said, "Hey guys. You don't mind if I hang with you again, do you?

Slippy and Peppy gasped as they saw Falco. Fox, however, just crossed his arms and looked over the blue avian. He had a small mohawk and was wearing a white headband with a dark pair of shades covering the front of his head. He was wearing a white T-shirt with a black leather jacket over it. The sleeves were covered with what looked like shoulder pads on his biceps. Right were the pads ended, a black gauntlet with golden trim started. It had two spikes on the top and the gauntlet itself ended at the wrist. There was a loose belt with a golden buckle on top of his black pants. He had knee high boots that ended with more golden trim.

With a serious appearance, Fox finally said, "You ditch us for no apparent reason, you didn't tell your team where you were going, you haven't made contact with us for the past four years, and now you expect to join Starfox just like that?"

"Well, uhh, y-you see," the falcon started

Fox suddenly smiled and said, "Sure Falco. It's great to have you back."

Slippy smiled and hollered, "Yeah! The Starfox team is back together again!"

"Well I would love to sit here and chat, but I need to go help our future bonus," the vulpine said as he started walking towards the elevator.

"What do you mean by that," asked Slippy.

"I don't think that Krystal made it off the planet. I'm going down there to rescue her and maybe we can get even more money for her safety."

"Oh Fox! I almost forgot! I received a messaged from Krystal. Guess that my age is catching up with me," Peppy said, chuckling.

Fox sighed as he and Falco walked to where the holo-projector was facing and said, "Alright Peppy. Let's hear it."

An enlarged head of the beautiful vixen appeared and she had a smile that made Fox grin as well. Falco looked at the vixen, then at the fox and smirked before listening to what she had to say.

"_Hi Fox. I really appreciate what you did for me. I'm just so sorry we didn't get much of a chance to talk. I left with just one thing to do."_

"That's it?" Fox asked in an annoyed tone after waiting a few seconds. Inwardly fuming, the vulpine ordered, "Ok guys let's go to Corneria and get our ships repaired."

"But Fox," complained Slippy. "What about Krystal? She's still trapped on the planet!"

"Wrong." Growled the vulpine, already losing his patience.

"Huh?"

"How would she send that message if she didn't have a ship? Hurry up. Let's get…" The vulpine was interrupted by a loud bumping sound. Everyone in the bridge looked around trying to find out where the sound had come from.

A quite hiss from the elevator door opening made him look that way. His jaw dropped slightly and his eyes widened, if only for a moment.

"And that one thing, Fox, is to say 'Thank you'," said Krystal, drawing out each word while walking slowly toward the surprised vulpine.

As soon as the elevator door opened, Fox found himself staring at the stunning vixen. She had blue hair that reached to the upper neck area and a tiara of golden beads that ended in a diamond shaped ruby on her forehead. Most of her face was a silky white until it faded into a beautiful shade of blue. She wore what looked like a golden bra with four white triangles that pointed down on both sides. Also, a white loin clothe with golden trim that showed off her strong, yet delicate legs and an odd, white tattoo. It spiraled from the center out and had small triangles on four sides. Thick, white bands separated her tail into three parts, making her even more beautiful. She had golden shin and wrist gaurds and strange symbols that were etched into her skin that went all the way around the biceps.

"Well, uh, ok. I mean, sure no problem," Fox stumbled while trying not to look at anything inappropriate.

Slippy saw this and laughed, "Ha ha ha! You're not shy, are you Fox."

Fox turned to give the frog a heated glare. Once his back was turned, though, Falco elbowed him and smiled. He loved giving Fox a bad time. He backed up a bit to give the two vulpine more space.

Before the fox could say anything back, Rob spoke up and said, "My sensors indicate that Fox's temperature is rising. Are you ok Fox?

This, of course, made everyone laugh at the embarrassed red-orange vulpine.

Trying to keep his composure, Fox decided to play along and sarcastically responded, "I'm going to be just fine."

Falco started chuckling and said, "Yeah sure you are Foxy. Just don't get too frisky tonight!"

Becoming pissed, Fox turned to the rude avian and growled, "Insulting your captain within an hour of being hired isn't a very good idea, Falco. Especially when _I'm_ your captain." He then addressed his whole team, still annoyed. "I just walked across an entire planet, killed two fifty foot monsters, a bio-weapon, fended off the entire sharpclaw army, and defeated the giant head of a crazed monkey in the course of one week. I'm going to bed."

With that the vulpine walked to the door that would lead him to his room. "Wow. After all this time, that fox is still depressed," Falco stated.

"It's not like you helped him at all. You just left," stated the annoyed amphibian.

"Hey! If he wasn't so sad all the time then I would've stayed!"

"Whatever Falco." With that, Slippy left as well.

"Hey! Get back here!" yelled Falco as he ran after Slippy.

Peppy just sighed and turned toward Krystal. "Sorry you had to hear all of that. Falco just got back on the team and everyone's kind of uptight right now,"

"It's fine," replied the less-than-enthusiastic Krystal. "I said what I wanted to and I guess I should go now."

"You don't have to do that. We'll take to where you need to go. It's the least I could do for making you witness all that."

"I-I don't really need to go anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

"My… home was destroyed a long time ago. I've just been wandering around in different systems."

"Oh. I'm so sorry, Krystal. You can stay with us as long as you need to."

"Thanks Peppy, but just drop me off at Corneria"

"Ok. Just make yourself at home and I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight Krystal."

"Good night Peppy."

_I hope that you like this. If you don't, then you should comment and let me know what I'm doing wrong. If you do like it, then you should comment and let me know what I can improve. Did I do well in: description, plot, characters, background info, or as a story overall? Did I use words or phrases too much? I really need to know these things so that I can get better. You can be as mean or nice as you want. As long as it's constructive criticism, than I really couldn't care less about how rude you are._


	2. Chapter 2

_#2 is up and written! This took a bit longer than I had planned. I tried to get it up sooner, but then it seemed really rushed so I had to redo some of the latter third. I got a lot more positive feedback on my last chapter than I thought I would, so that was nice. This chapter would have been absolutely horrible grammatical wise if it weren't for SchmEthan. Many special thanks to you! Unfortunately, he only got to beta 2/3rds of this story because of my perseverance… issues. One thing that I think I need help on is talking. Ex.) Krystal said; replied Fox. Please look out for ways me to improve that. Hope that you like! _

Chapter 2

C.S. Lewis- Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.

Soon after everyone else went to bed, Krystal went to her ship. Upon arrival, she went inside to sleep in the small cot that was there. It was actually much more comfortable than it looked.

After a half hour of rolling around trying to get comfy, Krystal finally gave up and got up to explore the Great Fox.

As she wandered aimlessly around the ship, the vixen started thinking. Peppy seemed like a nice enough person. He was genuinely sorry for the small fight that had happened between the three team members. She didn't mind that, though. It gave her an idea of what the characters of each were. Falco appeared to be uncaring toward others, Slippy seemed trustworthy, and then their was Fox.

He was definitely different. He had so many mixed emotions earlier that she wasn't sure what to think. By the small speech that he gave before he left, he sounded resentful. Almost like he wished that he didn't do the Sauria mission. But when she probed his mind for his character, she found that he was very caring, but just wished that someone was there to help him.

Krystal just didn't know what to think of him. She silently told herself that she would get to know her rescuer better before they landed on Corneria.

She walked into what appeared to be a kitchen and looked at the time. It read 12:07 A.M. Krystal sighed in disappointment. It could be a while before Fox got out of bed. Hopefully he would get up _before_ Falco.

She'd had too many bad experiences with men.

Krystal walked out of the kitchen after eating a PB & J and headed to a group of four doors. She opened the first one and quickly closed it, blushing hard.

These four doors were apparently the sleeping quarters. She had almost walked into Fox's room!

Krystal jogged around the next corner hoping that she didn't wake up the other vulpine. Not hearing or sensing anything following her, she quietly walked into the nearest room and looked around. It was about the size of a walk-in closet, except it was filled with weapons and not clothes. Blasters, Sniper rifles, machine guns, gatling guns, grenades, motion-sensor mines, homing launchers, and even a demon launcher were all crammed into the space.

Krystal listened at the door to make sure that everyone was still asleep before continuing down a different hall. Skipping over the first few doors, Krystal entered the farthest one and found it littered with boxes. Curious, she went to an open box and peered in to find ammo for a sniper rifle. The next crate she looked in had ration packs in it. She continued looking in boxes, finding mostly ammo and rations.

Krystal left that and entered one that she had skipped before. This room was full of fuel cells and arwing replacement parts. She walked around admiring the sleek style and powerful build of the components.

Krystal left the room and continued exploring the second floor of the massive ship. After awhile, she became thirsty and headed back to the kitchen.

When she got there, the vixen got herself a glass of water and slowly drank it. She glanced at the clock and her eyes widened in surprise. It read 2:41 A.M. She had been wandering around the ship for over two and a half hours and hadn't even explored half of it!

Krystal sat there for a few minuets, relaxing. Afterwards, she slowly got to her feat and headed toward the bridge to explore the Great Fox more. Once there, the vulpine went down the elevator to the docking bay on the first floor. She walked to the back of the room and opened a door.

The dimly lit hallway ran horizontal to the door she had just come through. There were many doors down the hallway on the right side, but the left side was a small stairway that ended with a single door.

Krystal went down the stairs to see what was behind the single door. She opened it up to find thousands of different colored wires on the ground that went from the center of the room to the walls and floor. She walked on the few clear spots on the ground, wondering what all the wires did. She noticed a small glass panel that she could look through and made her way over to it. Outside, she could see a pair of massive guns that extended a few meters out from the hull of the ship.

Krystal left the room and walked down the long hall, checking what was inside each of the many doors. Each one was filled with wires and switches that all did something different.

After looking in seven different doors, Krystal noticed a small silver button in the ground that was near identical in color to the floor. Curiosity got the better of her and, after looking around to check that no one was watching, pressed it.

Krystal gave out a little yelp of surprise as the floor under her feet started to move before quickly jumping to more stable ground. She watched as part of the floor folded in on itself to reveal a square hole in the ground. She walked closer and saw a ladder that led down to the backside of a room. She couldn't make out any more detail from her vantage point, so the vixen climbed down the metal ladder and turned around. Her gaze wandered the hundred-some small screens that displayed nearly every room in the Great Fox.

As Krystal looked, she caught a glimpse of a real light blue. The vulpine focused on the screen and saw that it was a swimming pool with a jacuzzi right next to it. "No way," she muttered under her breath. She continued glancing at each screen before movement in one caught her attention.

Krystal watched as three sharpclaw grunts stumbled out of her ship, carrying their crude maces. As she watched, one tripped on the second sharpclaw and tackled the first one to the ground. Both of them got up, and the one who got tackled punched the other, who fell on the second sharpclaw.

They continued fighting like this, slowly making their way to the elevator. One sharpclaw slammed into the elevator controls from a particularly powerful punch to the chest. The doors slowly opened, and the three grunts tumbled in, still fighting.

While this was happening, Krystal just stood there staring at the screen in shock. It would have been funny to watch if it didn't mean that three sharpclaws were now wandering around the ship. And to make matters worse, she had brought them here.

Snapping out of her state of shock, Krystal quickly climbed up the ladder and ran back to the docking bay. She had to stop the grunts before they broke something important or hurt the people who had helped her. She speedily made her way into her ship and went to the cockpit and grabbed her retracted staff from the captain's chair.

Krystal then made her way to the elevator, noting that a small number on the door read 3. She got there and pressed the button once, then twice, and then started repeatedly pressing the 'up' button, as the doors still wouldn't open. "Come on, come on, come on!" Finally, the doors opened and the vixen rushed in, pressed the '3' button, and then started hammering on the 'close doors' button.

As the doors slowly closed, Krystal tried to calm down. The sharplcaw couldn't hurt anyone since they were on the third floor. Hopefully, she would be able to detain them before they could damage anything.

The doors opened and the vixen sprinted down the hall where she could sense the three sharpclaws were. As she got closer, the vulpine could here the grunts and snorts of the sharpclaw. Krystal passed two maces that were lying on the floor as she headed toward a left turn in the hall. As she ran down the hall, the last mace flew from the corner and stuck itself into the wall. At least now they were weaponless.

Krystal slowed down as she neared the corner and then cautiously peered around the wall. The three grunts were still fighting and all of them had multiple cuts and bruises. This was going to be too easy. She extended her staff and ran around the corner, firing a small fireball at the knee of the nearest sharpclaw. It found it's target and the vixen followed up with a devastating overhand swing that knocked it out immediately. There was no time to admire her work, however, as the two remaining sharpclaw charged her as a team. One was coming from her right and the other, her left. She smiled to herself as she calmly stepped backwards and watched as the two crashed into each other, stumbling backward from the head on collision.

Krystal immediately took advantage of this and did a quick spin, gaining momentum, before slamming the top of her staff on top of the head of the grunt on her left. She let her momentum spin her around in a full circle before bringing the staff up and shattering the other's jaw while he became airborne. They were both unconscious before they even hit the ground.

Krystal sighed as she grabbed the one that she had shot in the knee and started dragging him towards the elevator. She tried to pull the sharpclaw behind her while still facing forward, but her heels kept on kicking the body. She then tried to pull the grunt beside her, but it used up too much energy too quickly. The vixen turned around and backpedaled watching the long line of the grunt's blood grow longer.

Krystal left him by the elevator and repeated the process with the other two. She pressed the 'down' button on the elevator and pulled the three sharpclaws in. After the doors opened again, the vixen drug them, one at a time, back to her ship.

'''

Fox turned over in bed as he heard the alarm clock start. He rubbed his fingers over the clock, trying to find the off button without opening his eyes. Finally finding it, the vulpine pressed it and tried to go back to sleep. It was no use, though. His mind had already started working, thinking about all the things that he had done recently.

Giving up, Fox sat up in bed, groaning in the process. He slowly opened his eyes and checked the time. It was 5:01 A.M. He reluctantly got out of bed and searched for a pair of swimming trunks. Finding them, the vulpine put them on and left his room in search for one of the stairways that led to the third floor. He reached it and started making his way up, stumbling from grogginess a bit. He walked down the isle for a bit before opening a door on his left and walking in.

Immediately, the smell of chlorine hit his nostrils. It wasn't a bad smell, but it wasn't a good one either. He went to the edge of the pool and looked at his reflection in the water. He had crust underneath his eyes and his fur was going every-which-way. Fox grinned at himself before backing up. He had just saved an entire planet and he still was going to do his early morning workout.

He took off at a sprint towards the pool, his muscles and bones protesting, and dove into the water. The fox started doing laps. It felt good to him. The luke-warm water rushing through his fur and that he almost glided through the water was a very welcoming feeling, especially in the morning. After fifty-or-so laps, the vulpine wearily got out of the pool, although from exhaustion this time, not from tiredness. Fox frowned a bit, though. He could usually do one hundred-some laps. Sure he just saved a planet, but that shouldn't have negatively affected his strength.

He sighed as he just figured that he would do the other half tonight. The vulpine laid down near the edge of the pool and was about to do crunches. He jumped a bit as a noise scared him before he could start.

"H-hey Fox?"

'''

Krystal sighed as she finally cleaned up all of the blood that the sharpclaw had left on the ground. She really shouldn't have shot his knee. That overhand swing would have been enough to knock out the grunt. What she had done was overkill, but at least it gave her something to do for a half hour.

The elevator doors opened and she carried the three maces over to her ship. The vixen put them near where she had tied up the sharpclaw back-to-back-to-back. Having finally finished with her chore, Krystal made her way to the kitchen. Once there, she got another glass of water and glanced at the clock. 4:51 A.M. She slowly drank the rest of the glass and filled it again, drinking it. She thought for a bit and, remembering the pool with jacuzzi, went to the third floor via. the elevator.

Krystal looked around the top floor for the swimming pool room for a few minuets. She opened a door and felt a breeze of warm, humid air pass through her fur. She smelled the sharp scent of chlorine and saw the perfectly calm swimming pool. She smiled as she walked in, closing the door.

Krystal slowly walked around the pool and headed to the jacuzzi. On the way, she spotted two different doors with a different word and picture on each. She blushed a bit because she couldn't read Lylation, even with nobody else there. The picture on the left looked like a simple, no-detail anthro. The one on the right was the same, but looked like it had something like a dress on it.

Krystal went into the right door, which seemed like it was meant for girls, and looked around. It was a large bathroom with multiple stalls for showering and using the restroom. On the far wall were some hooks that were holding clothing that were bikinis. Thinking for a bit, she decided to keep her clothes dry and to wear a black bikini.

After changing, Krystal walked out of the bathroom and slowly got into the jacuzzi, savoring the feeling of warmth that the water gave. She sat there relaxing for about nine minuets, before the door to the room opened and Fox walked in wearing nothing but a pair of shorts!

She sat there not sure what to do. It looked like he was deep in thought and hadn't noticed her yet. He walked to the edge of the pool, and then started to walk away. Before Krystal could get his attention however, Fox turned around and dove into the pool.

Not wanting to interrupt him, she just sat there relaxing and watching him do laps. She closed her eyes after a bit, letting the hot water and splashing sounds from the pool relax her further. She opened her eyes as she heard the other vulpine get out of the pool.

He laid down to start something else, but Krystal quickly said, "H-hey Fox?" "Hey Fox," she quickly repeated, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

"Oh. H-hey…"

"Krystal," the vixen said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Right. Uhh… s-sorry about that," replied the nervous vulpine, getting into a sitting position.

"It's fine. I… just wanted to say thank you for all that you've done to help me. I had no idea what you had to go through. I'm sorry for taking my staff back so abruptly. It's just very important to me."

"Oh, uhh… you're welcome. Sorry for getting annoyed with you. It had just been a _really _long week. How long have you been up?" asked Fox, changing the subject.

"Actually, I haven't gone to bed yet, so all night. I was asleep in that crystal prison for… however long I was in there."

"Oh," was all Fox could say. Krystal had moved away from the edge of the jacuzzi and now he could see her in the bikini.

The vixen got an annoyed look as she saw him start blushing and staring at her. "What are you doing up so early?"

This seemed to help distract him from her. "I get up this early all the time. I like to be up before everyone else is to just… do stuff," he answered. He shivered since he was still wet.

Krystal noticed this and said, "You look cold. Do you want to come in here?"

"Uhh n-no th-thank you," stuttered Fox. One thing that he had learned from experience was to never get to close to a fan girl. You never know what they might do. "I-I think I'm just going to change now."

"I'll see you later then."

"Yeah." With that Fox left and walked back to his room, thinking. Every fan girl he had known fell into one of two groups. They were either too shy to talk to him, they would giggle uncontrollably if he even looked at them, or would try t seduce him. Krystal hadn't fallen into any of these groups. She didn't act overly exited when he talked to her and she was the one who started their conversation. She didn't do anything to try to arouse him either.

Fox entered his room and then took a quick shower. Finishing, he put on a pair of jeans and a plain white T-shirt and headed to the kitchen. Upon arrival, he saw the blue vixen back in her bra and loincloth, staring out the window. He just stood in the doorway, looking at her until she asked, "Is their something on my back?" without turning around.

"Oh! Uhh, no. I mean yes!" Fox said, blushing, quickly walking into the pantry before she could say anything else. "How did she know I was looking at her?" he asked himself, grabbing pancake mix and maple syrup before walking out again. He avoided looking at Krystal as he set the stuff down next to the stove. He got a small bowl, frying pan, spatula, and fork out and put some mix into the bowl. Then, he put the bowl under the sink and put water into it. The fox stirred it around with a fork for a bit before asking, "Would you like some breakfast, Krystal?"

"That would be nice. Thanks."

"No problem," replied the male vulpine. He turned on a burner on the stove and put the frying pan on it. Fox let the pan heat up a bit before pouring some of the batter onto it. He set two napkins and two forks on the table while the first pancake cooked. He checked to make sure that side was done before expertly flipping the pancake. Once it was cooked, he put it on a plate and took it to the table with the syrup. "Here's yours," said Fox.

"Okay, thanks," replied Krystal, finally turning away from the window and looking him straight in the eye. They stayed like that, not moving for a couple seconds before he turned away to cook his food.

She sat down in the chair with the plate in front of it and poured maple syrup onto her pancake. She was already halfway done before Fox sat down with his food. Krystal got a mischievous look in her eyes and said, "So, Fox."

"Mmm," he replied, chewing his pancake.

"What was on my back?"

Instantly, Fox tensed up and instinctively swallowed. "I-it was a, uhh, a… a bug," he said, trying to sound as sure as possible.

Krystal just smiled and continued to eat her pancake. A comfortable silence continued, before the fox asked, "So, where are we taking you?"

"Just… to Corneria" the vixen quietly answered.

"Could you be more specific? Like which hangar bay is closest to your home."

Krystal's eyes immediately got a sad, far away look in her eye, like she was remembering something from her past. She turned her head to try and hide that from Fox.

Despite that, he immediately noticed and a worried look came across his face. "Hey, are you alright? Whatever I said, I'm sorry."

She took a deep breath and said in a level voice, "It's fine. You didn't do anything wrong. "It's just that my home was destroyed. Guess that I'm still not over it, even after six some years."

"I'm… sorry about that. Where have you been living for the last six years?" Fox asked weakly.

"Just in the ship that I uh… borrowed." An uncomfortable silence followed. After he finished eating, Fox grabbed his and Krystal's plates and forks and washed him off. When he was done, he turned around and looked at Krystal. She had her head on her arms, which rested on the table, and had the same sad, distant expression, obviously thinking.

"Hey Krystal," he softly said. "Are you going to be ok?"

Coming back to reality, she answered, "Yeah. I just get a little worked up when my past gets brought up."

"Yeah. I definitely know how that feels."

"Why is th-"

At this time Falco burst into the kitchen and, upon seeing Fox and Krystal, said, "Have a nice time? Alone. Wink, wink."

Next thing he saw was the blue vixen stand up and a golden object flying at his head.

_There it is. Please comment and I hope you enjoyed! Personally, I think that Falco would do that without hesitation, even in the morning. Plus, I like the annoying Falco better than any other so no comments on his personality. Thanks! _

_Best of luck-Assassin-clt_


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